Something happy
I rarely write about exciting and happy things in my life, but after last night my love for people and the world is really renewed and I want to write about it here. Last night the student organization I'm in, To Write Love On Her Arms, hosted You Are Not Alone Night and we brought in Jamie Tworkowski and his musical guest Zach Williams. In preparation for the event we collected anonymous secrets from the student body and made a Post Secret collage, inspired by the internet's post secret. Seeing people's secrets and having some specific secrets revealed by people who wrote them to me (friends kind of letting me know) was very eye-opening. It made me want to cry for them. It made me happy that they were finally able to open up to me after knowing me for years. It made me really realize that I'm not alone, and that even though some people's secrets were more severe than mine, the bad is all relative to the person who experiences such things and that no person's struggle is any worse or better than another's because we all go through different things that are hard to get through for us personally. I guess at a deep level, I already knew all this, but seeing it there displayed so prominently really brought it to the forefront.
I have told more people I love them this week, that I won't ever judge them and that its okay to feel that way than probably ever before. I always make a point to let my friends know that I love them and that I'm there, but now I know that saying those things to people who may just be acquaintances matters just as much. To Write Love On Her Arms has become a huge support system in my life this past school year, and it has helped many people indirectly as well as directly. The culmination of this year with You Are Not Alone Night and hearing Jamie speak and Zach sing and tell his stories was really awesome. It reached out beyond our little group to the people we haven't been able to reach previously, or maybe we have and don't know it. There were a few people from other colleges there that asked how to get their own TWLOHA student organization started, which is pretty awesome. To know that so many people heard the message of love and being there as a community was really huge. It was not a night that I ever want to forget. From the people who helped and took direction from me as a very stressed out leader to the people I didn't even get to say hi to as they walked through the door to the event, I know that every single person got to hear what I heard and got that same message of love.
More and more, I'm realizing that my faith is more based in love than "religion" and that Jesus's most important message was one of love and community. If all churches could be loving support systems like TWLOHA-GVSU, Christianity might be more alive today. Yes, I do have to bring God into everything, because God has made such an impact on my life that its something that I want to share. I don't ever want to share it out of a place of hatred or fire and brimstone, but to share what I've believed and what has saved me from killing myself before. That even when you don't believe that you have anyone to turn to, that you feel lonely and completely unloved, if you have that faith you can believe that someone who matters more, who is the most important and famous celebrity, died so that you don't have to live with guilt or shame, but so that you can feel loved truly unconditionally. It has helped me immensely in my times of struggle.
To switch back to the event, something that really impacted me and confirmed what I've suspected all along was when Jamie asked anyone who has been affected by mental illness either personally or through friends to raise their hands. Almost every single person raised their hand. Love can't fix everything on our campus, but it couldn't hurt either. There is a huge need for some spreading of the love and de-stigmatizing mental illness all over, and that is what TWLOHA is all about. Its something that I really feel is important and kind of awe-inspiring. Zach was talking to our group after everything was over, just joking around and such, and asked what awesome meant. To me, the only example I can think of is when Saul was blinded by the light and knelt before God's presence IN AWE. Something that brings you to your knees with its greatness and beauty is seriously awesome to me. I like it.
I have told more people I love them this week, that I won't ever judge them and that its okay to feel that way than probably ever before. I always make a point to let my friends know that I love them and that I'm there, but now I know that saying those things to people who may just be acquaintances matters just as much. To Write Love On Her Arms has become a huge support system in my life this past school year, and it has helped many people indirectly as well as directly. The culmination of this year with You Are Not Alone Night and hearing Jamie speak and Zach sing and tell his stories was really awesome. It reached out beyond our little group to the people we haven't been able to reach previously, or maybe we have and don't know it. There were a few people from other colleges there that asked how to get their own TWLOHA student organization started, which is pretty awesome. To know that so many people heard the message of love and being there as a community was really huge. It was not a night that I ever want to forget. From the people who helped and took direction from me as a very stressed out leader to the people I didn't even get to say hi to as they walked through the door to the event, I know that every single person got to hear what I heard and got that same message of love.
More and more, I'm realizing that my faith is more based in love than "religion" and that Jesus's most important message was one of love and community. If all churches could be loving support systems like TWLOHA-GVSU, Christianity might be more alive today. Yes, I do have to bring God into everything, because God has made such an impact on my life that its something that I want to share. I don't ever want to share it out of a place of hatred or fire and brimstone, but to share what I've believed and what has saved me from killing myself before. That even when you don't believe that you have anyone to turn to, that you feel lonely and completely unloved, if you have that faith you can believe that someone who matters more, who is the most important and famous celebrity, died so that you don't have to live with guilt or shame, but so that you can feel loved truly unconditionally. It has helped me immensely in my times of struggle.
To switch back to the event, something that really impacted me and confirmed what I've suspected all along was when Jamie asked anyone who has been affected by mental illness either personally or through friends to raise their hands. Almost every single person raised their hand. Love can't fix everything on our campus, but it couldn't hurt either. There is a huge need for some spreading of the love and de-stigmatizing mental illness all over, and that is what TWLOHA is all about. Its something that I really feel is important and kind of awe-inspiring. Zach was talking to our group after everything was over, just joking around and such, and asked what awesome meant. To me, the only example I can think of is when Saul was blinded by the light and knelt before God's presence IN AWE. Something that brings you to your knees with its greatness and beauty is seriously awesome to me. I like it.